Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SOLVENTS FOR AGRICULTURAL APPLICATIONS
AND PESTICIDE FORMULATIONS
Field
The present invention relates to solvents for agricultural applications (e.g.,
pesticides)
and to pesticide formulations.
Introduction
Aromatic solvents, such as xylene, have been regularly utilized in
agricultural
applications. Xylene is commonly used as it provides several advantages, such
as
1() dissolving a variety of active ingredients and being easily emulsified
in water on dilution.
However, there are number of disadvantages to xylene's use as a solvent such
as
flammability, combustibility, and toxicity. Thus, there is a need for solvent
alternatives to
xylene for use in agricultural applications.
A variety of alternatives to xylene have been considered such as aromatic
fluids
produced from petroleum-based raw materials such as naphtha solvents composed
of C9-C13
aromatics. However, such solvents still have issues such as low flash point
and high
toxicity.
It would be desirable to have new solvents for agricultural applications
having good
dissolution properties while also having an improved
environmental/health/safety profile.
Summary
The present invention provides solvents for pesticides that, in some
embodiments,
have a dissolving ability comparable to that of xylene while also being more
environmentally friendly.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a solvent for pesticides that
comprises
an ether ester of Formula 1:
R3
R1,
0
0 (Formula 1)
wherein RI and R2 are each independently one of an alkyl group having 1 to 4
carbon atoms
or an aryl group, wherein R3 is hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl, and wherein n is 1
to 6. In some
embodiments, RI and R2 are ethyl groups, R3 is hydrogen, and n is 2.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a pesticide formulation that
comprises the ether ester of Formula 1 and a pesticide.
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These and other embodiments are described in more detail in the Detailed
Description.
Detailed Description
As used herein, "a," "an," "the," "at least one," and "one or more" are used
interchangeably. Thus, for example, an aqueous composition that includes
particles of
"a" hydrophobic polymer can be interpreted to mean that the composition
includes particles
of "one or more" hydrophobic polymers.
The numerical ranges disclosed herein include all values from, and including,
the
lower and upper value. For ranges containing explicit values (e.g., 1 to 7),
any subrange
between any two explicit values is included (e.g., 1 to 2; 2 to 6; 5 to 7; 3
to 7; 5 to 6; etc.).
The terms "comprising," "including," "having," and their derivatives, are not
intended to exclude the presence of any additional component, step or
procedure, whether or
not the same is specifically disclosed. In order to avoid any doubt, all
compositions claimed
through use of the term "comprising" may include any additional additive,
adjuvant, or
compound, whether polymeric or otherwise, unless stated to the contrary. In
contrast, the
term, "consisting essentially of" excludes from the scope of any succeeding
recitation any
other component, step, or procedure, excepting those that are not essential to
operability.
The term "consisting of' excludes any component, step, or procedure not
specifically
delineated or listed. The term "or," unless stated otherwise, refers to the
listed members
.. individually as well as in any combination. Use of the singular includes
use of the plural
and vice versa.
Unless stated to the contrary, implicit from the context, or customary in the
art, all
parts and percents are based on weight and all test methods are current as of
the filing date
of this disclosure.
"Solvent" and like terms mean a substance that is capable of dissolving
another
substance (i.e., a solute) to form an essentially uniformly dispersed mixture
(i.e., solution) at
the molecular or ionic size level.
Embodiments of the present invention relate to solvents for pesticides. In
some
embodiments, a solvent for pesticides comprises an ether ester of Formula 1:
R3
0 (Formula 1)
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wherein RI and R2 are each independently one of an alkyl group having 1 to 4
carbon atoms
or an aryl group, wherein R3 is hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl, and wherein n is 1
to 6. In some
embodiments, RI and R2 are ethyl groups, R3 is hydrogen, and n is 2.
Embodiments of the present invention also relate to pesticide formulations. In
some
embodiments, a pesticide formulation comprises a pesticide and a solvent
according to any
of the embodiments disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the solvent
comprises 1 to 90
weight percent of the fornmlation and the pesticide comprises 10 to 99 weight
percent of the
formulation. The solvent, in some embodiments, comprises 2 to 70 weight
percent of the
formulation, and the pesticide comprises 30 to 98 weight percent of the
formulation. In
some embodiments, the pesticide comprises one or more of chlopyrifos,
tebuconazole,
di fenoconazole, triazolone, quizalofop-p-ethyl, myclobutanil, pyraclostrobin,
bifenthrin,
buprofezin, and beta-cypermethrin.
Solvents for Pesticides
Solvents for pesticides according to some embodiments of the present invention
comprise an ether ester of Formula 1:
R"
RI. f=14,1 .0, .,
0
(Formula 1)
wherein RI and R2 are each independently one of an alkyl group having 1 to 4
carbon atoms
or an aryl group, wherein R3 is hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl, and wherein n is 1
to 6. In some
embodiments, RI and R2 are ethyl groups, R3 is hydrogen, and n is 2.
Solvents for pesticides according to some embodiments of the present invention
consist of an ether ester of Formula 1:
0 (Formula 1)
wherein RI and R2 are each independently one of an alkyl group having 1 to 4
carbon atoms
or an aryl group, wherein R3 is hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl, and wherein n is 1
to 6. In some
embodiments, RI and R2 are ethyl groups, R3 is hydrogen, and n is 2.
Solvents for pesticides according to some embodiments of the present invention
consist essentially of an ether ester of Formula 1:
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Ri
'Oc tir
0 (Formula 1)
wherein RI and R2 are each independently one of an alkyl group having 1 to 4
carbon atoms
or an aryl group, wherein R3 is hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl, and wherein n is 1
to 6. In some
embodiments, RI and R2 are ethyl groups, R3 is hydrogen, and n is 2.
In one embodiment the ether ester is ethyl-3-ethoxy propionate and are
commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company as UCARTM Ester EEP.
Solvents for pesticides of the present invention can comprise, consist of, or
consist
essentially of two or more ether esters of Formula 1. "Two or more ether
esters of Formula
1" means that the solvent comprises at least two distinct ether esters of
Formula 1 (e.g., a
1() first ether ester in which R1 and R2 methyl and a second ether ester in
which RI and R2 are
ethyl; or a first ether ester in which n is 2 and a second ether ester in
which n is 3 and all
other substituents or components of the two ether esters are the same; etc.
The ether esters
can differ from one another in more than one substituent or component, and the
solvent can
comprise any number of different ether esters of Formula 1.
In some embodiments, solvents of the present invention comprise or consist
essentially of at least 95 percent by weight of ether esters of Formula 1.
Solvents of the
present invention, in other embodiments, comprise or consist essentially of at
least 95
weight percent, or at least 97 weight percent, or at least 98 weight percent
or at least 99
weight percent, or at least 99.9 weight percent of ether esters of Formula 1.
In some embodiments, solvents of the present invention comprise or consist
essentially of at least 95 percent by weight ethyl-3-ethoxy propionate.
Solvents of the
present invention, in other embodiments, comprise or consist essentially of at
least 95
weight percent, or at least 97 weight percent, or at least 98 weight percent
or at least 99
weight percent, or at least 99.9 weight percent of ethyl-3-ethoxy propionate.
Pesticide Formulations
Pesticide formulations according to the present invention comprise a pesticide
and a
solvent according to any of the embodiments of solvents for pesticides
disclosed herein.
These pesticides include, but are not limited to, chlopyrifos, tebuconazole,
difenoconazole,
triazolone, quizalofop-p-ethyl, myclobutanil, pyraclostrobin, bifenthrin,
buprofezin, and
beta-cypermethrin.
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In some embodiments, a pesticide formulation comprises 1 to 90 weight of a
solvent
according to any of the solvents for pesticides disclosed herein and 10 to 99
weight percent
of the pesticide, each based on the total weight of the formulation. In some
embodiments, a
pesticide formulation comprises 2 to 70 weight of the solvent and 30 to 98
weight percent of
.. the pesticide, each based on the total weight of the formulation.
In some embodiments, a pesticide formulation consists of 1 to 90 weight of a
solvent
according to any of the solvents for pesticides disclosed herein and 10 to 99
weight percent
of the pesticide, each based on the total weight of the formulation. In some
embodiments, a
pesticide formulation consists of 2 to 70 weight of the solvent and 30 to 98
weight percent
.. of the pesticide, each based on the total weight of the formulation.
In some embodiments, a pesticide formulation consists essentially of 1 to 90
weight
of a solvent according to any of the solvents for pesticides disclosed herein
and 10 to 99
weight percent of the pesticide, each based on the total weight of the
formulation. In some
embodiments, a pesticide formulation consists essentially of 2 to 70 weight of
the solvent
.. and 30 to 98 weight percent of the pesticide, each based on the total
weight of the
formulation.
Optional materials that are not essential to the operability of, but can be
included in,
the pesticide formulations of this invention include, but are not limited to,
_ antioxidants,
colorants, water scavengers, stabilizers, and the like. These materials do not
have any
material impact on the efficacy of the pesticide formulation. These optional
materials are
used in known amounts, e.g., 0.10 to 5, or 4, or 3, or 2, or 1, weight percent
based on the
weight of the solvent, and they are used in known ways.
Pesticide formulations can be prepared using techniques known to those of
skill in
the art. For example, the active ingredient (pesticide) can be dissolved in a
solvent, and
then emulsifiers or other conventional additives can be added.
Sonic embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail in the
following
Examples.
Examples
The following examples are given to illustrate the invention and should not be
construed as limiting its scope. All parts and percentages are by weight
unless otherwise
indicated.
The following solvents in Table 1 are evaluated for performance as a solvent
for
pesticides:
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Table 1
Solvent Chemical
Comparative Solvent A xylene
Comparative Solvent B Solvesso 150
Inventive Solvent 1 ethyl 3-ethoxypropionate
The xylene is from Sinophann, Co., China. Solvesso 150 is an aromatic solvent
(CAS No.
64742-94-5) from ExxonMobil Chemical Co. The ethyl 3-ethoxypropionate is
UCARTM
Ester EEP available from The Dow Chemical Company. The solubility of various
pesticides in these solvents are evaluated. The pesticides are shown in Table
2:
Table 2
Components Supplier
Chlopyrifos Zhongye Chemical Co. (China)
Tebuconazole Liannong Chemical Co. (China)
Difenoconazole Suli Chemical Co. (China)
Triazolone Qizhou Chemical Co. (China)
Quizalofop-p-ethyl Jingbo Chemical Co. (China)
Myclobutani I Shengya Chemical Co. (China)
Pyraclostrobin Shentai Chemical Co. (China)
Bifenthrin Lier Chemical Co. (China)
Buprofezin Anbang Chemical Co. (China)
Beta-cypermethrin Tianyuan Bio-chemical Co.
((:'hina)
Each pesticide powder is added by solvent in 2% stepwise increments to the
fmal
pesticide concentration. Each pesticide reaches a concentration where the
pesticide powder
is not dissolved by the solvent. The concentration just prior to the
concentration where the
pesticide powder is not dissolved is shown in Table 3. Thus, the data in Table
3 reflects a
solubility that is no more than 2 A) lower than the actual solubility.
Table 3
Active Comparative Comparative Inventive
Ingredients Solvent A Solvent B Solvent 1
(weight %) (weight %) (weight %)
Chlopyrifos 70 54 63
Tebuconazole 4.0 /.0 16
Difenoconazole 34 19 33
Triazolone 23 12 32
Quizalolop-p-ethyl 32 23 22
Myelobutanil 27 23 39
Pyraclostrobin 42 31 47
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Active Comparative Comparative Inventive
Ingredients Solvent A Solvent B Solvent 1
(weight Ai) (weight %) (weight %)
Bifenthrin 45 44 43
Buprofezin 10 16 18
Beta-eypermethrin 32 34 43
In comparing the dissolving ability of Comparative Solvent A and Inventive
Solvent
1, Comparative Solvent A has a stronger dissolving ability than Inventive
Solvent 1 for
some active ingredients (e.g., chlopyrifos, quizalofop-p-ethyl and
bifenthrin). However, for
the rest of evaluated active ingredients, Inventive Solvent 1 exhibits better
solubility than
Comparative Solvent A. Overall, inventive Solvent 1 is believed to exhibit
comparable
dissolving performance relative to Comparative Solvent A with respect to the
various
pesticides evaluated. While exhibiting comparable dissolving performance,
Inventive
Solvent 1 is also advantageously believed to be more environmentally friendly
than
Comparative Solvent A.
In comparing the dissolving ability of Comparative Solvent B and Inventive
Solvent
1, the two solvents have comparable dissolving ability as to three of the
evaluated active
ingredients (buprofezin, bifenthrin and quizalofop-p-ethyl). For the other
active ingredients,
Inventive Solvent 1 provides much better solubility performance than
Comparative Solvent
B. Thus, inventive Solvent 1 has a stronger dissolving ability for these
active ingredients
than Comparative Solvent B. While exhibiting generally stronger dissolving
performance,
Inventive Solvent 1 is also advantageously believed to be more environmentally
friendly
than Comparative Solvent B.
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